Attitude speaks louder than actions

You have heard it said that actions speak louder than words, well attitude speaks louder than actions.  When Bobby and Kristi were little, if they got in an argument I would have each of them apologize to the other.  Well, they did the right actions, said the right words, but OH boy what attitude.  Do you know that you can say "I'm sorry." with your teeth clinched!   The attitude in which we do something means alot.  It isn't the gift that a husband brings to his wife that impresses as much as the attitude that he brings it.  An attitude that throws the gift on the table, and then says, here it is, without even looking at her- is just useless.  My dad coached sports alot, and he was never impressed with the players that had attitude.  He would often say, "Put some mustard on that hotdog."  Dad was right, players that had attitude  had a way of ruining the game for us all.
Have you ever found yourself in the position in which someone else's attitude was the thing that was giving you an attitude.  One of the hardest things is when a spouce, a child, a neighbor, a teacher, or someone that we care about comes at us with a bad attitude.  I have watched as people spent hours of thier time straining and struggling trying to figure out how to change someone that they care about, so that they would have a better attitude.  It's bad to have a loved one say, "I hate you."  But, it is even worse for them to utter those words only because you refused to give them MORE money, as if they hadn't already asked for enough!   We have to get ourselves in the place where we are no longer willing to let someone else's bad attitudes and bad decisions give us a bad attitude and bad decisions.  Attitude is what people use to control other people, it is our nature to do so. 



You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being
 corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; Eph. 4:22-24

God wants us to have a new attitude, but how do we do that when we are so frustrated by someone else's attitude?  The scripture says that attitude resides in your mind.  Our attitude effects our emotions, but, an attitude is developed in the mind.  What is the secret to peace in the mind?  God will keep us in perfect peace if our mind is constantly upon him.  The more we think about that hurtful thing other person is doing, the more we destroy our own mind.  If we place our mind on Christ Jesus and look to him for help, in time, he will bring peace and hope to all things.  Why is it that we don't like to take things to God and leave it there?  Sometimes it is because we are concerned that we will have to suffer some things before God finishes his work.  When someone hurts us, and that is their attitude towards us, it is in our nature to put on the same attitude and hurt them back, but in doing so we lose our own peace of mind and give way to strife that stays with us long after that other person is gone.   We must refuse to lower ourselves to their standard, we must keep the attitude of Christ.

Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because he who has suffered in his body is done with sin. 1 Peter 4:1

It is our pride that gets hurt the most when someone is mean to us and causes us strife, and that makes us want to lash out.  Don't let your pride get the best of you.  Humble yourself under the hand of God and in due season, he will lift you up. 

Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. Phil 2:5-7

 God can give you the attitude of a peacemaker in your home,  your work,  even in your own mind.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.   Matt. 5:9